Clio Grow Defined
In 2018, Clio acquired Lexicata, an intake and client relationship solution, and used it to develop Clio Grow. The co-founder and CEO of Lexicata, Michael Chasin, is still with Clio as general manager of Clio Grow. The first step was to reach out to Clio for a description of this product. Clio defines Clio Grow as “the client intake and legal relationship management (CRM) soft- ware created for legal professionals that allows you to deliver an exceptional client experience with an easy-to-use interface and efficiencies like intake forms, e-signature, email campaigns, lead tracking, reporting, and more.” To begin the evaluation, I decided that I would need to be the “client” to see what type of experience it would deliver on the client side.
The Setup
When I signed up for Clio Grow, they sent an email to log in and a helpful page of resources to get me started. Of course, I ignored the email and logged in at once to see what I could find. Obviously, I should have read the email first and followed the steps to understand things like connecting Clio Grow to Clio Manage, customizing my letterhead, email signatures and the intake process. But I was a lawyer in a hurry, probably like other first-time users of the tool. After I logged in, the first page gave me a screen on “getting started.” First it asked me to complete a survey. This is Clio, after all, and if you are not familiar with the company, they love surveys! The second exercise prompted me to create my first contact and matter. It led me to a button for a Quick Intake. This method is easy to use, and it is helpful when taking a phone call with a potential client. After I set up my first client, I wanted to send them an intake form. Clio Grow has a template already built into it. I edited the questions on the template to better reflect the information I wanted.
After reading the resources provided by Clio Grow, I was then able to connect my Clio Manage with Clio Grow, add my law firm logo to Clio Grow, and integrate my Outlook calendar, email and my signature line into the product. I often explain to lawyers that they need to use the tutorials offered for the products they use, and I am a perfect example of why this is necessary. I would have saved time if I did what Clio Grow suggested in the first place.
After setting up a few contacts as prospective clients, I got a better feel for what Clio Grow does and how it could help a lawyer keep track of these prospects. The first page is the Matter Pipeline. It gives a quick overview of where your prospects are in the engagement. The page is laid out well and is easily customizable. The same is true with each of the individual matters. These pages are easy to use. The first thing I chose was the workflow tab. This tab manages the automations that make it simple to keep a prospect engaged, while saving time for the lawyer. The workflow is preset with tasks—Create a Task, Create New Appointment, Schedule an Email, Prepare Form and Prepare Document. A lawyer can modify this workflow to better fit their intake processes.
Intake and Email Automations
After the initial setup, I looked over what automated processes were available. Acting as my client, I sent myself a link to the new and improved intake form. It worked great, was user-friendly for a potential client and can be filled out on a phone, too. If I wanted to further automate this process as a lawyer, I could post a public intake form on my website. An alert is sent automatically, and a new contact is set up when the form is completed.
There are several email templates already available depending on the status of the relationship with the potential client. The templates are linked to the workflow that I discussed above, and they fill in when you send a form, document or an appointment reminder. Sending documents and asking for e-signatures is built into Clio Grow, making it easy to send an engagement letter. A lawyer can add more document templates or edit the ones built in with the template editor. I found this easy enough to use, but if a law firm is not comfortable building forms or does not have the time, Clio Grow will do it for a fee.
Scheduling Appointments
There are different options for scheduling appointments in Clio Grow, but the best feature is the scheduler. The scheduler is a terrific way to give the client more options and to save time for the law firm. The scheduler can be modified for different types of appointments. Once this is set up, a link can be added to a website or emailed to a potential client. This feature automatically blocks out the times that are already booked on your calendar. After a person selects a time, their contact information populates into Clio Grow, along with the calendar entry into Clio Manage.
Reports
There are several reports available. The Matter Report shows where leads come from, such as referrals or types of social media. This is important for an attorney to understand where they get their leads. A law firm can also add value to their matters, which can later be used to track conversion rates. There is a separate Referral Report that is convenient for lawyers who want to track this. I was pleasantly surprised by their easy use and graphics.
Lawyers lose future clients when they do not follow up with their prospects. Clio Grow provides an effortless way to do this. Overall, this is a very helpful product for law firms that are already using Clio Manage. For solo and smaller firms considering Clio Manage as their new practice management software, they should consider adding Clio Grow to the package. For many lawyers, it will be worth the extra fee for the tools it provides.
